The present invention relates to an operating device used for an automotive transmission, and more particularly to an operating device utilizing a push-pull control cable or push-pull control cables (hereinafter denoted by a cable or cables, respectively) as a means for transmitting operating force.
Recently, a transmission operating device employing control cable is used as a remote operating means for a transmisstion of a front-wheel-drive small automobile having a front engine or a rear-wheel-drive bus or truck having a rear engine. The cable type operating device has advantages, for example, that the device is light and economical and that the device allows relatively free selection in the disposition thereof.
A conventional example of the cable type operation device is described in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 49536/1984. The conventional device is explained here referring to FIGS. 15 to 16.
A bottom end of a change lever 104 is directly connected to a ball joint 106 which utilizes a ball 105, and the ball joint 106 is fixed to a housing 101 with peripheral four bolts 102. A pin 107 is fixed to the ball 105 with projecting laterally. The end of the pin 107 is connected to the second arm of a bell crank 103 via a spherical bearing 108 The bell crank 103 is supported in the middle by a hinge 111 fixed to the housing 101, and the first arm 112 of the bell crank 103 projects upward with inclination. A bracket 113 on the change lever 104 is connected with a shift cable 110, while the first arm 112 of the bell crank 103 is connected with a select cable 109.
When the change lever 104 is moved laterally to the cables, the pin 107 moves upward or downward and the bell crank 107 rotates and consequently the select cable 109 is pushed or pulled to provide a selecting operation. When the change lever 104 is moved parallel to the cables subsequent to the above operation, the shift cable 110 is pushed or pulled to provide a shifting operation.
In the above mentioned conventional device, the universal joint 106 should be disposed one-sidedly in the housing 101, because the universal joint 106 is fitted with a laterally projecting pin 107. Accordingly, the location of the change lever 104 is also one-sidedly in the housing 101, and the housing 101 should have an additional space to allow the change lever to incline. Therefore, the conventional device has a problem that the device requires relatively large installation space.
In addition, the conventional device has another problem that the assembly work thereof is hard. Because, the conventional device has a construction, wherein the parts such as the universal joint 106 and hinge 111 are fastened individually to the housing 101 by bolts or the like, and requires many assembling steps, many dimensional adjustments in disposing those parts as the result.
The present invention was made considering the above mentioned problems, and an object of the invention is to provide an operating device for a transmission which can be installed in a small space and can be assembled easily.